Punch Methods Guide

MAttendance supports 13 punch methods. You can enable multiple methods simultaneously and let employees use whichever is available to them. Every punch method records the same data (In/Out time, location, method used) — the difference is only in how presence is verified.

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How Punching Works

Regardless of method, every punch follows the same flow. The system automatically determines whether a punch is In, Out, Break Start, or Break End based on the employee's current state for the day.

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1. GPS

What it does: The employee's phone sends their GPS coordinates. The system checks whether they are within the configured geofence radius of their assigned office.

Requires hardware: No hardware — mobile app only. | Accuracy: Medium — works outdoors, can drift indoors.

Admin Setup

1. Go to Settings → Offices.
2. For each office, set the Latitude, Longitude, and Geofence Radius (recommended: 50–200 meters).
3. No other configuration needed.

Employee Usage

1. Open the MAttendance app.
2. Allow location permission when prompted (required once).
3. Tap Punch In and select GPS as the method.
4. The app reads your location and submits the punch.

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2. WiFi

What it does: The employee's phone detects the WiFi network they are connected to and sends the router's MAC address. The system checks whether that MAC matches a registered office router.

Requires hardware: Your existing office WiFi router (no special hardware — just register its MAC address). | Accuracy: High.

Admin Setup

1. Find the MAC address of your office WiFi router (printed on a label on the router, or accessible via router admin panel). Format: E8:48:B8:C2:57:05
2. Go to Settings → Hardware → WiFi Routers → Add Router.
3. Enter the Router Name, MAC Address, and optionally the SSID.
4. Save. Register one entry per router.

Employee Usage

1. Connect your phone to the office WiFi.
2. Open the MAttendance app and tap Punch In → WiFi.
3. The app reads the connected router's MAC address and submits.

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3. QR Code

What it does: A time-limited QR code is displayed at the office. Employees scan it with the app to punch.

Requires hardware: A screen, tablet, or printed QR sheet at the office entrance. | Accuracy: High.

Admin Setup

1. Go to Settings → Offices.
2. In the row for the office, click QR Code. The QR Punch Code window opens.
3. Leave this window open on a screen at the office entrance. The code is valid for 5 minutes and refreshes itself automatically; Generate New Code replaces it immediately.

Employee Usage

1. Open the MAttendance app and tap Punch In → QR Code.
2. Point the camera at the QR displayed at the office.
3. The app scans and submits automatically. Camera permission required.

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4. Selfie

What it does: The employee takes a photo of themselves at punch time. The selfie is stored for HR/Admin review. This is visual proof, not automated recognition.

Requires hardware: None — mobile app only. | Accuracy: Manual review required.

Admin Setup

Turn on Selfie for each employee who should use it, under Employees → [Employee] → Access Permissions. No hardware needed.

Employee Usage

1. Open the app and tap Punch In → Selfie.
2. The front camera opens automatically.
3. Take a clear selfie (face fully visible) and confirm.

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5. Fingerprint

What it does: The employee confirms their identity with the fingerprint sensor on their own phone before the punch is sent. The check happens on the phone — no fingerprint data is sent to or stored by MAttendance.

Requires hardware: No — uses the phone's built-in fingerprint sensor. | Accuracy: High.

Admin Setup

1. Enable Fingerprint as a punch method for the employee or office.
2. Make sure each employee's phone is a registered device. A punch from an unregistered device is still accepted, but it is flagged for review.

Employee Usage

1. Tap Punch In → Fingerprint.
2. Place a finger on the phone's sensor when prompted.
3. The punch is recorded once the phone confirms the match.

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6. Web (Browser Punch)

What it does: Employees punch from the MAttendance web portal using their browser. Suitable for office workers who are always at their desks.

Requires hardware: Any computer with a browser. | Accuracy: Medium (IP logged).

Admin Setup

Turn on Web for each employee who should use it, under Employees → [Employee] → Access Permissions; it is off for new employees. No hardware needed. Without it, the employee still sees their day on the portal dashboard but has no punch buttons.

Employee Usage

1. Log in to https://portal.mattendance.com.
2. On the Dashboard, click the Punch In button.
3. Click Punch Out when leaving.

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7. Bluetooth Beacon

What it does: A BLE beacon at the office detects the employee's phone when within range and triggers a punch. Range: 5–30 meters.

Requires hardware: BLE beacon (Estimote, Kontakt.io). See Hardware Guide. | Accuracy: High.

Admin Setup

1. Power on the beacon and note its UUID, Major, and Minor values.
2. Go to Settings → Hardware → BLE Beacons → Add Beacon.
3. Enter the Name, UUID, Major, Minor, and Office. Place the beacon at your entrance.

Employee Usage

1. Enable Bluetooth on your phone and grant Bluetooth permission to the app.
2. When within range, tap Punch In → Bluetooth — the beacon is already detected.

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8. NFC Tag

What it does: An NFC tag sticker at the office entrance. Employees tap their phone to punch. Requires direct physical contact.

Requires hardware: NFC tag stickers (NTAG213/215/216). | Accuracy: Very High.

Admin Setup

1. Purchase NFC tags. Use any NFC reader app on Android to read the Tag UID.
2. Go to Settings → Hardware → NFC Tags → Add NFC Tag. Enter the Tag UID and Office.
3. Place the tag at reception, door frame, or time-clock post.

Employee Usage

1. Enable NFC on your phone (Settings → NFC).
2. Tap Punch In → NFC.
3. Hold the back of your phone close to the NFC tag (within 2–4 cm).

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9. Face Recognition

What it does: The employee's face is captured at punch time and matched against enrolled face data. Automated — no manual review needed.

Requires hardware: None (uses phone's front camera). | Accuracy: High (enrollment quality dependent).

Admin Setup

Go to Employees → [Select Employee] → Face Data → Enroll. Upload a clear frontal photo.

Employee Usage

1. Tap Punch In → Face Recognition.
2. Hold the phone at face level facing the camera.
3. Camera captures your face and compares against enrolled data. If matched, punch is submitted.

Face data must be enrolled by an admin first. Camera permission required.

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10. Geofence Auto

What it does: The app runs in the background and automatically triggers a punch when the employee enters or exits the office geofence — no manual action required. 5-minute cooldown prevents duplicates.

Requires hardware: None — mobile app only. | Accuracy: Medium (GPS-dependent).

Admin Setup

Same office setup as GPS (Latitude, Longitude, Geofence Radius). Turn on Geofence Auto and Background Location for the employee under Employees → [Employee] → Access Permissions; the employee then enables auto-punch in the app (see Mobile App → Auto-Punch Settings).

Employee Usage

1. Install the app and grant Always allow location permission (background location required).
2. No daily action needed — the app detects entry/exit and punches automatically.
3. You receive a push notification for each automatic punch.

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11. Voice

What it does: The employee speaks a voice command to record a punch. Suitable for hands-free environments (warehouses, kitchens).

Requires hardware: None — mobile app only (microphone required). | Accuracy: Medium.

Admin Setup

Turn on Voice for each employee who should use it, under Employees → [Employee] → Access Permissions.

Employee Usage

1. Tap Punch In → Voice.
2. When prompted, speak clearly: "Punch In" (or "Punch Out").
3. Microphone permission must be granted. Speak in a quiet environment for best results.

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12. Client Site

What it does: For field employees/salespeople at customer locations. The employee selects a client site and submits a GPS-verified punch at that site's address.

Requires hardware: None — mobile app only. | Accuracy: High (GPS validation at client site).

Admin Setup

1. Go to Settings → Client Sites → Add Site.
2. Enter Site Name, Client Name, Address, Latitude/Longitude, and Geofence Radius.
3. Add one entry per client location your employees visit.

Employee Usage

1. Tap Punch In → Client Site.
2. A list of registered client sites appears — select your current site.
3. The app validates your GPS location against the site's geofence and submits.

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13. Biometric Machine

What it does: A physical biometric terminal verifies the employee by fingerprint, face, palm or card and sends the log to MAttendance. Most tamper-proof punch method.

Requires hardware: A biometric terminal (ZKTeco, eSSL, Suprema, Hikvision, Realtime, BioMax, Matrix — or any machine that can export a CSV). See Hardware Guide. | Accuracy: Very High.

Admin Setup

Step 1 — Register the machine: Go to Settings → Hardware → Biometric Machines → Register Machine (the Biometric Machines tab is shown to Admins only). Enter the Serial Number (on the machine's label, or under Device Info on the machine), choose the Brand and the Sync Protocol, select the Office and give it a display name. An IP address and port are only needed for machines read through an API (Suprema, Hikvision); machines that push their logs do not need them.

Step 2 — Enroll employees: On the machine, add each employee and note their Machine User ID. In MAttendance, go to Settings → Hardware → Biometric Machines → [Machine] → Enrollments → Add Enrollment and link the Machine User ID to the employee.

Step 3 — Sync attendance:

• Automatic: ZKTeco, eSSL, Realtime, BioMax and Matrix machines push logs to MAttendance as they happen. Suprema (BioStar 2) and Hikvision are read through their APIs. Logs are processed every 15 minutes.
• Manual CSV import: Export logs from the machine, then open Sync Logs for that machine and click Import CSV.
• Sync Logs: shows each punch received from the machine and whether it was processed. Entries marked Unresolved belong to a Machine User ID that is not linked to an employee — add the enrollment, then click Process Pending Logs.

Employee Usage

Employees do not use the mobile app. They simply place their finger on the scanner (or use face, palm or card, depending on the machine). The terminal records the punch and the system syncs it.

• Register the same finger each time (index or middle finger recommended).
• Press firmly and hold for 1–2 seconds.
• If the machine shows "Please try again", remove and re-place the finger.
• Do not use wet or dirty hands.

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Method Comparison at a Glance

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Training Your Staff

For Office Employees

1. Hold a 15-minute group session showing the app punch flow.
2. Have everyone do a test punch during the session.
3. Remind them: one punch when arriving, one when leaving.
4. Tell them what to do if a punch fails (retry, or use Web punch as backup).

For Field Employees

1. Walk through Client Site selection and GPS punch.
2. Emphasize "always allow" location permission.
3. If using Geofence Auto, show the notification they will receive when auto-punched.

For Production / Warehouse (Biometric Machine)

1. Enroll all employees on the biometric machine before go-live day.
2. Demonstrate correct finger placement technique.
3. Enroll a backup finger (in case primary is unavailable).
4. Designate a supervisor who can handle sync issues.